Internet Economy II

Africa's Data Centre Sector Experiences a Growth Spurt - 12 Level 3 Facilities As Nigeria's Rack Centre Joins Their Ranks. London — One sign that Africa's data markets are maturing is the rapid increase in the number of Level 3 certified data centres.

A quarter of these data centres are carrier neutral, offering customers the ability to do a range of things that are vital as Africa's corporates go digital. Russell Southwood spoke to Ayotunde Coker, Managing Director, Rack Centre, Nigeria's carrier neutral data centre, which got its Level 3 certification last month. A year ago there were relatively few Level 3 data centres certified by the Uptime Institute on the continent. Now there are 12, of which 4 are carrier neutral: Millicom (Senegal); NPONE (Morocco); Rack Centre (Nigeria); ASA MSTelecom (Angola); BTCL (Botswana); Standard Bank, MTN and BCX (South Africa); East Africa Data Centre (Kenya); Mauritius Telecom and Bhumshiq Teleserve (Mauritius); and TEData Company (Egypt).
Sub Saharan Africa millennials spend $50 a month on football betting, survey.

Sub Saharan Africa millennials spend $50 a month on football betting, survey Millennials in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are using their mobile phones to bet on football and are spending less than $50USD per month.

Kenya has the highest number of betting youth, according to a recent GeoPoll rapid survey carried out among youth between the ages of 17-35 in Uganda, Tanzania, Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa and Kenya. Based on a rapid survey conducted by GeoPoll earlier this year, over 50% of earnings by youth consumers is spent on personal care. This is much higher than gambling. As noted in the report, gambling is becoming popular among male African Millennials in SSA due to their high affinity towards sports and the proliferation of local sports betting players. As highlighted in that report, this is still a very nascent industry and in the survey on spending habits, only 3 percent of Youth consumers in SSA indicated that they spend part of their income on gambling. www.research.geopoll.com. Traditional universities are on the way out: online is the future for Africa. Professor Deirdre Carabine, Virtual University of Uganda Education has two faces in today’s world, according to a recent World Bank report.

On the one hand there’s the traditional face, where learning takes place in the state-sponsored classroom. On the other are the private initiatives in which other partners take responsibility for education at all levels. Research suggests that the traditional university has seen its heyday and can no longer survive the changes in today’s world.
Afrimalin lance son agence immobilière en ligne. Huit mois après son lancement, le site de petites annonces gratuites en Afrique francophone crée un service spécifique pour les biens immobiliers dans cinq des huit pays où il est déjà présent.

Ludovic Centonze, Responsable de projets Orange pour le développement, leur donne la parole.
Africa: Traditional Universities Are On the Way Out - Online Is the Future for Africa. OpinionBy Deirdre Carabine Education has two faces in today's world, according to a recent World Bank report.

On the one hand there's the traditional face, where learning takes place in the state-sponsored classroom. On the other are the private initiatives in which other partners take responsibility for education at all levels. Research suggests that the traditional university has seen its heyday and can no longer survive the changes in today's world A groundbreaking Ernst and Young report concluded five years ago that. Massive growth predicted for cross-border e-commerce in sub-Saharan Africa. DHL Express has released a report, ‘The 21st Century Spice Trade: A Guide to the Cross-Border E-Commerce Opportunity', which indicates that cross-border online retail volumes are predicted to increase at an annual average rate of 25% between 2015 and 2020 (from $300 billion to $900 billion), twice the pace of domestic e-commerce growth.

Cross-border e-commerce is considered a growth rocket for sub-Saharan Africa retailers and the report reveals that cross-border e-commerce offers aggregate growth rates not available in most other retail markets. The report looks in detail at the markets and products that offer the highest growth potential, the motivations and preferences of customers making international online purchases and the success factors for online retailers that wish to expand overseas. Faster shipping options adds rapid growth. NDEMO: How Kenya gave rise to Africa ICT revolution - Opinion and Analysis. Technology startups in Africa are going places.

In 2016, they raised funding in excess of $129 million (Sh13 billion), according to the just released Disrupt Africa Report. Kenya, South Africa and Nigeria were the top three beneficiaries of this investor funding. Although the fintech sector received the highest funding, fortunes are changing to agri-tech, which attracted the biggest percentage growth compared to previous years. It is perhaps the start of the diversification of Africa’s tech portfolio. I have been asked many times to share my experience on what we did right to see Kenya leap from obscurity in technology and give rise to an Information and Communications Technology (ICT) revolution in Africa. There are many reasons why we succeeded but key among them were political will, a dynamic approach to policy making and implementation and courage to effectively deal with the ICT infrastructure in the country.

We were paralysed, but nevertheless we proceeded.
Africa map of Map of Africa:The Internet Economy-Leaders, Followers, Emergent & Under Performers[2013 Data] by Country. IBM to invest $75 mn to create 25 mn IT skilled workers in Africa. IBM today announced its plans to make an investment of $70 million or approximately ZAR 945 million for building digital, cloud, and cognitive IT skills to support workforce in Africa.

The IBM Digital – Nation Africa initiative provides cloud-based learning platform designed to provide free skills development programs for up to 25 million African youths over five years, enabling digital competence in Africa. The main objective of IBM Digital – Nation Africa program is to increase digital literacy, increase the number of skilled developers to tap into cognitive engines and create entrepreneurs.
WaystoCap is bringing Africa’s cross-border trade into the digital era. WaystoCap is an e-commerce firm taking part in the current Y Combinator program.

Wait… “E-commerce, meh, done to death…” I hear you say….
African Universal Internet Alliance Expands to 17 nations. President Kagame speaking at 2015 Transform Africa Summit in Kigali In 2013, seven governments meeting in Kigali adopted an ambitious agenda to turn their countries into “smart nations” – making tech and broadband connection a universal right. Today, the alliance’s founding host President Paul Kagame announced the grouping had more than doubled. “Our Alliance started with 7 member countries, and now has 17 countries on board representing a market of about 360 million people,” said Kagame at the Smart Africa board meeting on the sidelines of the 28th African Union Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Membership includes war-torn nations like South Sudan – whose government is still struggling to restore security in the vast nation.
Africa: The New Normal for Africa in 2017 - 4G Coverage and Higher Speeds Driving New Data Uses. Analysis London — 4G coverage has steadily been replacing 3G coverage in Africa in 2016 and in 2017 it looks likely to be the year higher speeds and better coverage will drive new data uses.

Globally 4G provides six times the average speed of 3G. Russell Southwood looks at how things are changing.
IT News Africa – Africa's Technology News Leader. United Bank Africa (UBA) has introduced its first merchant-focused app in Africa with the aim of creating a SMART (secure, mobile, accessible, reliable, transparent) network of 100,000 micro merchants and driving financial inclusion. UBA launch first merchant app in Nigeria and the rest of Africa that will connect 100,000 micro merchants to formal economy by early 2017. The announcement follows the Pan African commitment made by UBA and Mastercard to introduce safer and more convenient ways to pay for goods and services in Nigeria and across the continent.

Nigeria has been selected as the first market to go live with the merchant app because of the country’s eagerness to adopt smart tech solutions. Masterpass QR is being introduced across all UBA’s subsidiaries in the rest of Africa. The merchant app will include Masterpass QR, a mobile payment solution powered by Mastercard, and is available for download to any feature or smart phone in the country. Staff Writer. TrekBuyFly… Africa’s first social travel app goes live — Sunday Magazine — The Guardian Nigeria. In a bid to ameliorate challenges usually faced by travelers while planning trips within and outside the country, Business Travel Management Limited has developed Africa’s first social travel app, TrekBuyFly. Specifically built for the Nigerian and African market and helps users find the most pocket friendly trips, with student discount options and last moment sales, the app helps users deal with all their travel, rip and group hangout wishes with just one click.

Interestingly, a simple swipe across your phone screen is the answer to all your travel wishes. Speaking about the application, which is now available for download from Google Playstore and the Apple App Store, Lola Adefope, General Manager of Business Travel Management Limited said, “Today’s traveller wants immediate answers. We want to know who’s in town when we arrive, what there is to do? We want to know the coolest places to hang out, the secret bars and see a little of the city too!”
E-commerce : comment l'Afrique est-elle en train de l'adopter ?
Open data : trois projets africains qui changent le quotidien. Le quatrième sommet mondial du Partenariat pour un Gouvernement Ouvert (OGP) s’est déroulé du 7 au 9 décembre à Paris. Retour sur les trois meilleures initiatives africaines en faveur de l’ouverture des données présentées à cette occasion.

7 predictions for the African tech startup space in 2017. Well that was 2016, folks, a bad year for famous people but another pretty good one for the African tech startup ecosystem. What can we expect from 2017, however? We look ahead to the next 12 months and speculate on how the scene will develop. Oh, by the way, here’s what we reckoned would happen in 2016. How did we do?
L’Afrique, épicentre de la bancarisation numérique. Le paysage financier est en plein bouleversement. Dans ce domaine, l’Afrique subsaharienne affiche une belle santé.
D’ici six ans, le smartphone sera le principal moyen d’accès à Internet en Afrique selon Ericsson.

(Agence Ecofin) - Dans son rapport sur la mobilité en Afrique subsaharienne, pour le mois de novembre 2016, la société technologique Ericsson indique que le smartphone sera le principal moyen d’accès à Internet d’ici six ans. Actuellement, les téléphones de base pèsent encore pour près de 60% des connexions à Internet dans cette partie du continent représentée par 48 pays.
African tech trends for 2017. What technology trends are going to be relevant for Africa in the year ahead? Frost & Sullivan looks at the technology landcape from an African perspective, what it actually means for the market in its application and the wider implications in its development and deployment. Telecommunications Naila Govan-Vassen: senior industry analyst: Africa ICT, points out that Africa’s communication services market, while not yet at saturation point, is approaching maturity. This is particularly true in urban areas of some of the relatively more advanced telecoms markets, like South Africa and Mauritius.

The real challenge is to increase the connectivity reach into less densely populated areas, the urban and semi-urban areas. Government involvement is, therefore, critical to the success or failure of ICT infrastructure deployment.
Mobile money on the rise in Africa as millions get phones. KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Ivan Kiryowa repeatedly checked the balance on his phone, nervous sweat on his cheeks, as he waited for money from a friend.

Thirty minutes later, $150 had landed in his account and he sauntered into a hardware store, where he bought bags of cement. "Mobile money is convenient for many of us who rely on our phones to pay bills and make transactions without having to go to the bank all the time," Kiryowa said. "Without it, I think we would have a lot more problems.
" Mobile money has become a way of life for millions of Africans who use their phones to pay utility bills, settle loans and even bail out friends in distress. There were 84 million active mobile money accounts in Africa as of December, according to the London-based industry group GSMA. In the East African capitals of Kampala and Nairobi, where the phenomenon is particularly strong, booths offering mobile money services dot the streets.

Sandvine Report: Video Share in Africa Has Doubled in Last Year. Africa: MTN Tests Facebook-Designed Voyager to Boost Internet Speed. Africa Internet Users, Facebook and 2016 Population Statistics. Business Opportunity: Africa Needs More Warehouse Space To Store E-Commerce Merchandise. Lekan Olakanmi, VP of operations at Konga Warehouse, Lagos, 2015.
18 African Countries To Automate Online Intellectual Property Registration. Following the successful trial in Kenya, the software giant Microsoft handed over the source code for an online intellectual property (IP) registration system to IP authorities across Africa, including the Kenya Copyright Board.The online registration system replaces the traditional manual process of submitting paper-based forms, making the registration of IP fast, accessible and more efficient.Microsoft 4Afrika is handing over the source code to an online automated IP registration system to help IP authorities across Africa drive a culture of IP protection.The system was first developed and tested by Microsoft 4Afrika through their IP Hub initiative and Kenya Copyright Board in June 2015.

eBay and ITC join forces to connect small firms in developing countries to digital marketplace. International E-Commerce in Africa: The Way Forward. Stanford researchers use dark of night and machine learning to shed light on global poverty. Stanford researchers use machine learning to compare the nighttime lights in Africa  indicative of electricity and economic activity  with daytime satellite images of roads, urban areas, bodies of water and farmland.